1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information retrieval method and apparatus that retrieves information according to the user""s taste from a great number of information. More particularly, the present invention relates to an information retrieval method and apparatus that can retrieve desired data efficiently by following related information.
2. Description of the Background Art
There are two typical methods of searching for desired information manually from a large amount of information. The first method is to view all the information and select a desired one therefrom. The second method is to sort the information according to a certain standard, such as a keyword representing the type, the produced date, or contents of the information, and select the desired information from the sorted group in which the desired information is expected to be included. However, there was a limit in effecting the information retrieval task manually when the amount of information becomes enormous.
Many information retrieval apparatuses utilizing the computer have been proposed to aid the search of information. An example of a general retrieval apparatus utilizing the computer will be described with reference to FIG. 18. The user sets the retrieval condition such as the title or assigned keyword corresponding to the desired information and depresses the retrieval execution button. Information matching the condition set by the user is displayed as the result of the search. The user selects the desired information therefrom to verify the detail of each information.
It is desirable to search for each information visually through images or motion pictures. The same applies for visualized information such as numerical information represented in a graph. An example of a conventional general image retrieval system will be described with reference to FIG. 19. A list of reduced representations of the stored images are provided on the display screen. The user searches for a desired image therefrom to display that image in an expanded manner or to use it for another application. When there are too many numbers of reduced images to be displayed on one screen, scrolling can be effected through windows or the page can be changed. By means of the retrieval function, the image corresponding to the keyword specified by the user can be retrieved from the information held by the image per se or the information assigned to the image.
In the image retrieval apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 8-249352, the feature value for retrieval is set on the XY coordinates to extract and display images having a feature value approximating that feature value. According to this image retrieval apparatus, the user can list up the approximating images and compare the images to select an image satisfying his/her taste.
In the actual search of information, the user may not necessarily have a definite idea in advance. For example, the user may be attracted to a picture of a mountain while looking at pictures of landscape, and then be attracted to a mountain piled with snow while looking at pictures of mountains. The user will build up a more definite design while browsing through the images.
Alternatively, the user looking at a picture of a friend, for example, may wish to look at another picture of that friend, and then may want to look at another picture of the place shown in the previous picture. Thus, the user may have no definite aim in the search of images, and look up for associated images as they are brought to mind.
In such circumstances, the conventional retrieval by keywords and the like is not so effective since the user cannot explicitly convey his/her own requirement to the system. The aforementioned image retrieval apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 8-249352 that can determine an image of interest from analogous images had a similar disadvantage since the feature value had to be set for the retrieval of comparable images.
The system that displays information visually as a clue in the retrieval of information had the problem that the amount of information that can be displayed on one screen is limited. A system that can display more images on one screen by moving and displaying images visually in a three dimensional manner is known. However, this system is directed to display prepared images, and is not directed to information retrieval.
In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide an information retrieval method and apparatus that allows information retrieval as brought to mind while referring to related information even when the user only has a vague idea of requirement, and a recording medium recorded with a program of an information retrieval method.
Another object of the present invention is provide an information retrieval method and apparatus that allows the level of relationship between displayed information to be recognized in an intuitive way, and that allows information retrieval as brought to mind, and a recording medium recorded with a program of an information retrieval method.
A further object of the present invention is provide an information retrieval method and apparatus that allows information retrieval to be carried out easily by moving displayed information to a position of better visualization for the user, and a recording medium recorded with a program of an information retrieval method.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an information retrieval method and apparatus that allows information retrieved so far to be confirmed again, and a recording medium recorded with a program of an information retrieval method.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an information retrieval method and apparatus that allows information of interest to be temporarily saved during the process of retrieval and carry out another retrieval, and a recording medium recorded with a program of an information retrieval method.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide an information retrieval method and apparatus that allows retrieval while confirming detailed information associated with the retrieved information, and a recording medium recorded with a program of an information retrieval method.
According to an aspect of the present invention, an information retrieval method retrieves information from a memory device in which a plurality of information are stored. The information retrieval method includes the steps of determining whether any of a predetermined number of sub-information displayed in advance is selected or not, setting the selected information as the main information when one of the sub-information is selected, calculating the level of relationship with the main information for each of the information other than the main information stored in the memory device when one of the sub-information is selected and select the predetermined number of sub-information according to the level of relationship, displaying the main information, and displaying the predetermined number of sub-information.
The information related to the information displayed as the main information is displayed together as sub-information. By selecting the sub-information and displaying the same as the new main information, information related to the information displayed as the new main information is displayed as the new sub-information. Therefore, the user can search through the related information for finding the desired information.
Preferably, the step of selecting a predetermined number of sub-information includes the steps of calculating the level of relationship between the main information and each information stored in the memory device other than the main information, calculating the value of a color corresponding to the level of relationship, and selecting the predetermined number of sub-information according to the level of the relationship. The step of displaying the predetermined number of sub-information includes the step of displaying each of the predetermined number of sub-information in a color representing the level of relationship of the sub-information.
Since the level of relationship between the main information and the sub-information is represented in color, the user can recognize the level of relationship between information in an intuitive way.
Further preferably, the step of displaying the predetermined number of sub-information includes the step of receiving an amount of rotation and rotating said predetermined number of sub-information by the rotation amount for display.
Since the position of information displayed as the sub-information can be altered by a rotation amount input operation, the user can move the sub-information to a desirable position for better visualization for the user. Thus, information retrieval is facilitated.
Further preferably, the information retrieval method further includes the steps of storing history of the main information, and displaying the main information displayed thus far according to the history.
The user can confirm again the information once retrieved since the history of the information displayed as the main information can be followed.
Further preferably, the information retrieval method further includes the step of registering a selected information out of the displayed main information and sub-information.
Since the user sets and stores the displayed information as the information of interest, the user can temporarily save information of interest during the retrieval process and carry out another retrieval.
Further preferably, the information retrieval method includes the step of displaying detailed information of the displayed main information.
Since detailed information of the main information is displayed, the user can carry out information retrieval while checking the detailed contents.
A computer-readable recording medium according to another aspect of the present invention is recorded with a program of an information retrieval method that retrieves information from a memory device in which a plurality of information are stored. The information retrieval method includes the steps of the determining whether any information of a predetermined number of sub-information displayed in advance is selected or not, setting a selected information as main information when one of the sub-information is selected, calculating the level of relationship between the main information and each information stored in the memory device excluding the main information when any sub-information is selected and selecting the predetermined number of sub-information according to the level of relationship, displaying the main information, and displaying the predetermined number of sub-information.
Information related to the information displayed as the main information is displayed together as the sub-information. By selecting sub-information and displaying the selected sub-information as the new main information, information related to the information that is now displayed as the new main information can be displayed as the sub-information. Therefore, the user can search for information of interest in an intuitive way while viewing the related information.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, an information retrieval apparatus includes a memory device of a plurality of information with main information and predetermined number of sub-information, a display device of the main information and the predetermined number of sub-information, an input device receiving designation from the user, a relationship level calculation unit connected to the memory device to calculate the level of relationship between the main information and each of the plurality of information other than the main information, a sub-information display unit connected to the relationship level calculation unit, the memory device, and the display device to select and display the predetermined number of sub-information from the plurality of information other than the main information according to the level of relationship, and a main information display unit connected to the input device, the memory device, and the display device to detect selection of any of the predetermined number of sub-information to set the selected sub-information as the new main information, and displaying that main information.
The information related to the information displayed as the main information is displayed together as the sub-information. By selecting the sub-information and displaying the selected sub-information as the new main information, information related to the information that is displayed as the new main information can be displayed as the sub-information. Therefore, the user can search the related information for finding information of interest in an intuitive way.